In addition to the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics is one of the pillars of the physical world view. Thomas de Padova tells her story extremely captivating.
The birth of quantum physics is on October 7, 1900. This Sunday, Max Planck received a visit from his colleague Heinrich Rubens. As an experimenter and Planck as a theorist, he examines “black bodies” that resemble the sun in their nature: If such a body is in the heat weight, it sends radiation, the intensity distribution of which only depends on the temperature. Until then, nobody managed to pour this connection into a universal formula. At the meeting, Rubens reports experimental results and a new law.
The same evening, Max Planck puts a formula on paper and sends it to Rubens – which confirms it with measurements. Planck’s trick: It dismisses the energy into small packages and calls it “energy elements”. This is how the quantums come into the world. However, the theory has a blemish: it cannot be reconciled with classical physics. This does not seem very comfortable to their creator – Max Planck becomes a revolutionary against will.
This overthrow concerns and employs generations of researchers. In his book, Thomas de Padova is limited to the decade between 1919 and 1929, tells extremely alive about heated debates, bold play games and the stubborn struggle for explanations for the light, which is suddenly wave and particle. The author clearly describes this time in which the traditional world view gets out of joint. In addition to Max Planck, there are three protagonists in the focus, which have given the new physics relevant impulses: Albert Einstein, who explains the photo -electrical effect using light quanta. Niels Bohr, who researches the structure of atoms. And Werner Heisenberg, who justifies the quantum mechanics of the solids.
The author writes closely along the sources and does not ignore the social, political and cultural facets of the Weimar Republic. In his easily readable book with a rich bibliography and register, the action lines and factual information combine to form an overall picture -historical overall picture. Helmut Hornung
Thomas de Padova:
Quantum light
The decade of physics 1919 – 1929
Hanser Verlag, 432 pages, € 28, –
ISBN 978-3-446-28134-9